Town of Amherst golfers excel in final week of regular season
by PATRICK J. NAGY Reporter

Justin Cardon of Williamsville East was runner-up at the ECIC Golf Championships on Monday at Diamond Hawk Golf Course. Cardon fired a 76 over 18 holes. Photo by John Normile Purchase color photos at www.BeeNews.com

What a week it was to be a member of a varsity golf team in the Town of Amherst.

Williamsville East almost handed Clarence its first regular season loss in several years, Williamsville North won the Williamsville Cup for the first time in almost 20 years and seven golfers from the Town of Amherst qualified for next May's Section VI Championships at Monday's ECIC Championships at Diamond Hawk Golf Course.

Williamsville East-Clarence

Four years ago, the Flames lost to Clarence by 46 strokes. Fast forward four years later and East almost handed the Red Devils a rare North Division league loss last Thursday at Brookfield Country Club, falling 276-278.

"It was amazing," said East coach Dave Delisanti. "All eight kids for both teams played great."

Senior Justin Cardon (34), freshman Bill Gaffney (35, only had 12 putts), freshman Sean Mahon (38) and seniors Dave Rundell and Mark Chaskes (41 each) led East.

"When a team goes out and shoots a 278, 99.9 percent of the time, you win," said Delisanti. "This was the .1 percent."

"The kids were visibly disappointed but they left it all on the golf course," he added. "When you have three scores in the 30s and two in the 40s, you can't ask more out of a golf team."

East finished the regular season tied for second with Williamsville North at 7-3.

"When the seniors on the team were freshmen, they were 2-8, then 4-4, 6-3 and now 7-3," Delisanti said. "It was a pretty good evolution and the kids became better golfers. As a coach, I was glad to see that."

East will host a two-man scramble team tournament at Transit Valley Country Club next Tuesday and Thursday called the Mohan Cup in honor of former Flames golf coach Jim Mohan.

Williamsville Cup

North hadn't won the Williamsville Cup since 1988 but that all changed at Audubon Golf Course last Friday.

The Spartans took top honors with a team score of 385, edging Williamsville East (387) and Williamsville South (395).

North also won the Williamsville Cup in 1987.

The Spartans' 385 team score is the second lowest team score in Williamsville Cup history. South posted a 378 in 2004.

North senior E.J. Kuebler was the medalist with a 70, tying the mark set in 2005 by North's Jake Katz and in 2001 by East's Jim Pizzutelli. Kuebler shot a 35 on the front 9 and birdied the third, fifth, 12th and 13th holes. He also had four bogeys and 10 pars.

"As a senior, it was a great way for him to finish," said North coach John Burns. "He was very focused."

Senior Alex Ullrich chipped in a 73, including an eagle on par-5 eighth hole and a birdie on the par-5 12th hole. Senior Matt Sweeney shot a 42 on the front nine but came back with a 37 on the back nine, including a birdie on the 12th hole, to finish with a 79. Sophomores Ben Katz and Dan O'Connor added scores of 80 and 83, respectively.

Williamsville East was led by Justin Cardon (72), Sean Mahon (74), Dave Rundell (77), Josh DiMarco (85) and Adam Burtch (79).

John Winstel and Rob Munley shot 74s for South. Clark Zhang (77), Taylor Gesel (82) and Greg Frank (88) also contributed.

At the B tournament, AJ Schueckler had a 44 and Evan Martone and Matt Battistoni added 45s.

Williamsville North

The Spartans went 3-1 in its last four matches, defeating Williamsville South, 288-327 and Sweet Home twice, 303-330 and 283-285. The Spartans lost to Williamsville East, 300-303.

Alex Ullrich was medalist against South and East with scores of 38 and 39, respectively. He added a 41 in North's first match with Sweet Home. Matt Sweeney added a 39.

Kuebler (37), Katz and O'Connor (40s) senior Jack Mitchell and junior Frank Knab (41s) and Ullrich and Sweeney (42s) led North in its second win over the Panthers. Mark Rusch's 38 and 39s from Brett Guynn and Ryan Kaminski paced Sweet Home.

Kuebler finished with a 40.8 stroke average followed by Ullrich (42.8), Sweeney (42.6), Katz (43.2) and O'Connor (43.8).

Williamsville South

South finished the regular season 0-10 after losing to Amherst, 306-330 and Sweet Home, 304-306 last week. Klocke and Winstel led South with a 43 and 45, respectively. Mike Hong (38), Will Pelham (40), Marty Jeras (42) and Jake Struebing (43) shot well for the Tigers.

Munley and Winstel tied for medalist with Sweet Home's Damien Annas with a 40. Zhang had a season-best 41; Klocke chipped in a 43.

"We tried to avoid going winless but we played well, that's all you can ask," said South coach Al Monaco.

Ryan Kaminski's 41 tipped the scales in Sweet Home's favor.

Sweet Home

The Panthers finished 3-7 but lost two matches by four shots.

"It turned out to be what I expected from a young team," said Sweet Home coach Mike Tojek. "They learned a lot through the season that matches we lost this year, I wouldn't expect them to lose next year."

Sophomore Damien Annas was the team's most consistent golfer with a 42.5 average. His lowest round was a 39. Juniors Brett Guynn (43), Mark Rusch (43.3, team's most improved golfer) and Dave Sykes (43.9), senior Brian Barnas (44), junior Ryan Kaminski (44.5) all qualified for ECICs. Sophomore Tyler Schrembs has been a great addition to the team, Tojek added.

ECIC Tournament

Qualifying for sectionals from the Town of Amherst were Williamsville East's Justin Cardon, Sean Mahon and Dave Rundell, Williamsville North's E.J. Kuebler and Dan O'Connor, Williamsville South's Rob Munley and Sweet Home's Dave Sykes.

Cardon fell four shots short of winning the entire tournament, firing rounds of 38 and 38 for a score of 76. Clarence's Pat Sheedy won the tournament with a 72.

Mahon was seven shots off the lead with a 79. Rundell won a playoff hole with eight other golfers, including Amherst's Will Pelham, to snag the final sectional spot with a score of 84. He hit for par on the first playoff hole and birdied on the second hole.

Kuebler shot a 78 to place him in a four-way tie for fifth. O'Connor and Munley, ranked 57th and 45th going into the tournament, were among eight golfers who had a score of 83. Sykes finished one place higher with an 82.

Others golfers from the Town of Amherst are North's Alex Ullrich (86), Matt Sweeney (95) and Ben Katz (98), East's Mark Chaskes (91) and Bill Gaffney (93), South's John Winstel (91) and P.J. Klocke (95), Amherst's Jake Struebing and Mike Hong (88 each), and Marty Jeras (94) and Sweet Home's Mark Rusch (88), Damien Annas (93), and Brian Barnas (104).

Cardon and Kuebler made the All-ECIC first team.

e-mail: pnagy@beenews.com